Modern appreciation systems in workplaces normally involve an application for someone including written justification. This reduces the chance of someone being appreciated when it becomes time to submit the form.
If the appreciation is rejected?
As this system is gated by applications then some will be rejected and would demoralise the person applying could lead to them becoming less likely to continue submit appreciation.
Even worse, the person could tell the other that they have submitted the form and if it is rejected this would make the person feel unappreciated.
How can we tackle this?
The application of appreciation is a necessary system within an organisation but there is a benefit of micro appreciation. Now that we are all working remotely. We could add define a tag or a way to mark in a conversation that you appreciate them. For example, maybe replying to a message with @appreciation++ or simply adding a 👍 (thumbs up emoji) to a message would mark it as a micro appreciation. This would be recorded and high counts would be automatically applied to the rewards system as a way to aggregate appreciation on a monthly basis.
A monthly report could be designed to summarise your interactions and micro appreciations. This would give the system immediate value to the happiness of the individuals in the company.
How can we avoid gamification?
I do not like to solve an issue until it appears. So I would suggest we trust people to be honest. If it becomes clear there is a problem here then try and solve it then.
Produce a monthly email of small appreciation. Making this a in purely a reflective service.